Kanu lures Arsenal scouts to Edwin Clark’s tourney

The Chief Scout of Arsenal is expected to storm Akwa Ibom venue of this year’s Edwin Clark U- 18 Football Tournament to see the football talents that are abound in the country.

This was disclosed by the Emmanuel Omijeh, the Chief Executive Officer of Rudder Sports Management organisers of the tournament.

“The competition will hold between May 16 and 25th, 2013 in Uyo and Eket in Akwa Ibom State. The grand finale is already scheduled for May 25th, 2013 to hour Chief Edwin Clark on his birthday”, Omijeh disclosed.

He explained the reasons for organising the competition. “Coming out of the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa as African Champions, we want the tournament to reach out to the grassroots, and every nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

“This made some of the ex- Internationals like the Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, Ex- Eagles handler, Samson Siasia, Peter Rufai, Taribo West, Austin Okocha and Kanu Nwankwo to come together to say just as they honour former South Africa President, Dr. Nelson Mandela with the Mandela Cup then decided to do something like this for Chief Edwin Clark that has been there for all of us. Chief Clark has always identified with the youths of this country.

“Also there is dire need to replace the old talents with the younger ones. So the tournament will be used to discover new talents and also give these young talents to have the opportunity of showcasing their talents to the outside world. That is why we are bring Emmanuel Omigie, Rudders Sports Chief Executive Officer, the organisers of the event disclosed.

“Kanu Nwankwu as I speak with you has travelled to England to speak with the Chief Scout of his former club Arsenal as well as African scout of International Soccer Bank and Simon Kalika which we all know and others that have yet to be confirmed. These people will be in Akwa Ibom to watch these kids and at least two or three among these players would be given the opportunity to play in Arsenal, VfB Stuttgart and some notable clubs in Turkey.

“Since Chief Clark in not only a leader from the South-South zone but a national leader. He has always spoken for the down trodden. As a result we want to honour him in his 86th birthday now that he is still with us hale and healthy we want to appreciate him. We are bringing one team from each geo-political zones. So we are bring eight teams from Nigeria with Delta State where he comes from and host state Akwa Ibom completing the team based in Nigeria while four teams would come from Africa. Four teams from Africa have already confirmed their participation in the tournament and they included Real Banjul, Abedi Pele’s team, Ismail FC of Egypt and a team from Republic of Benin.

“The other four teams that are expected to participate in the competition are VB Stuttgart Kickers of Germany, Kodak 04 of Greece, Antalya Sports of Turkey and Karama Sports of Turkey as well”, Omijeh disclosed.